Closure

ABSTRACT

This invention can be used in the food industry. The invention relates in general to multi-purpose closures used for bottling and storing expensive high-quality drinks. The technical result of the proposed invention is a more reliable closing of bottles, providing the necessary tightness, and making refilling the bottle with low-quality drinks less possible. The closure comprises a discharge sleeve with outer and inner pipes at its inlet end, a collar with an external thread at its outlet end, an inner hood with splines on its side exterior surface and a pouring tube at its outlet end, a removable check valve installed on the exterior side surface of the inner pipe, said check valve having sealing lips on its exterior surface and a flange on its outlet end, said flange being located between the inner and the outer pipes. The outer pipe has longitudinal ribs on its interior surface. The collar of the discharge sleeve has a plug installed therein, said plug being supported by raking props and used to shut off the pouring tube. The inner hood is threadedly engaged on the collar of the discharge sleeve thereby to allow its axial movement resulting from rotation. The outer hood has a tamper-indicating means at its outlet end, splines on its interior side surface thereby to engage splines on the inner hood, and transverse projections to interact with the inlet end of the outer pipe of the discharge sleeve. The discharge sleeve has windows evenly spaced around its periphery. The mating surfaces of the pouring tube and the plug are tapered. The tamper-indicating means at the outlet end of the outer hood is made as a break-away member fixed on the end surface by means of at least three break-away strips, which are spaced evenly around the periphery of the interior surface of the end of the outer hood, or by means of a solid annular break-away strap located at the interior surface of the end of the outer hood. The ball of the valve is made of e.g. glass, crystal glass, marble. A sealing gasket is placed between the outer pipe and the inner pipe of the discharge sleeve. The longitudinal ribs on the interior surface of the outer pipe are separated or arranged in groups to interact with the mating surface of the bottleneck collar.

This invention can be used in the food industry. The invention relatesin general to multi-purpose closures used for bottling and storingexpensive high-quality drinks.

Known is a closure comprising a discharge sleeve with outer and innerpipes at its inlet end, a collar with an external thread at its outletend, an inner hood with splines on its side exterior surface and apouring tube at its outlet end, a removable gate with a check valvemember, said gate being installed on the exterior side surface of theinner. pipe and having sealing lips on its exterior surface and a flangeon its outlet end, said flange being located between the inner and theouter pipes. The outer pipe has longitudinal ribs on its interiorsurface. The collar of the discharge sleeve has a plug installedtherein, said plug being supported by raking props and used to shut offthe pouring tube. The inner hood is threadedly engaged on the collar ofthe discharge sleeve thereby to allow its axial movement resulting fromrotation.. The outer hood has a tamper-indicating means at its outletend, splines on its interior side surface thereby to engage splines onthe inner hood, and shoulders to interact with the inlet end of theouter pipe of the discharge sleeve. The discharge sleeve has windowsevenly spaced around its periphery (patent RU No. 34928 U1, 7 B 65 D47/20, 20.12.2003).

This apparatus proved to be effective, but it can not prevent theunauthorized opening of the bottle and refilling it with low-qualitydrinks. Besides, bottles can not be closed reliably because some partsof the closure are cast or stamping, they can not be fabricated to highprecision standards and may be assembled with gaps. In particular,fabricating the mating surfaces of the pouring tube of the inner hoodand the plug of the discharge sleeve in the form of a cylinder does notguarantee a minimal gap between them after assembling, which can resultin evaporation and leaks of the fluid stored and transported in thebottle. This apparatus makes it possible to find out tampering with thebottle due to using a break-off member, but this break-off member can bereplaced, glued and flattened accurately. After that, it is difficult tosay if there has been tampering or not.

Besides, the valve member and the seat of the removable gate do notprovide the necessary tightness, as the valve member will be shakedduring transportation and handling.

The technical result of the proposed invention is a more reliableclosing of bottles, providing the necessary tightness, and makingrefilling the bottle with low-quality drinks less possible.

The mentioned technical result is achieved in that the closure comprisesa discharge sleeve with outer and inner pipes at its inlet end, a collarwith an external thread at its outlet end, an inner hood with splines onits side exterior surface and a pouring tube at its outlet end, aremovable gate with a seat and a check valve member, said gate beinginstalled on the exterior side surface of the inner pipe and havingsealing lips on its exterior surface and a flange on its outlet end,said flange being located between the inner and the outer pipes. Theouter pipe has longitudinal ribs on its interior surface. The collar ofthe discharge sleeve has a plug installed. therein, said plug beingsupported by raking props and used to shut off the pouring tube. Theinner hood is threadedly engaged on the collar of the discharge sleevethereby to allow its axial movement resulting from rotation. The outerhood has a tamper-indicating means at its outlet end, splines on itsinterior side surface thereby to engage splines on the inner hood, andshoulders to interact with the inlet end of the outer pipe of thedischarge sleeve. The discharge sleeve has windows evenly spaced aroundits periphery.

The mating surfaces of the pouring tube and the plug are tapered.

The tamper-indicating means at the outlet end of the outer hood is madeas a break-away member fixed on the end surface by means of at leastthree break-away strips, which are spaced evenly around the periphery ofthe interior surface of the end of the outer hood, or by means of asolid annular break-away strap located at the interior surface of theend of the outer hood.

The valve member is made of a material which ensures its tight abutmentto the seat of the removable gate, e.g. glass, crystal glass, marble. Asealing gasket is placed between the outer pipe and the inner pipe ofthe discharge sleeve.

The longitudinal ribs on the interior surface of the outer pipe areseparated or arranged in groups to interact with the mating surface ofthe bottleneck collar.

Tapered form of the mating surfaces of the plug and the pouring tubeallows their tight gapless jointing. This makes closing more reliableand tight, preventing evaporation and leaks.

Making the tamper-indicating means, installed at the outlet end of theouter hood, as a break-off member fixed on the end surface by means ofat least three breakable strips, which are spaced evenly around theperiphery, or by means of a solid annular breakable strap located at theinterior surface of the end of the outer hood, prevents tampering.

If an unauthorized opening of the bottle has been taken place, thebreak-off member can not be replaced inconspicuously, as there is asmall gap in the ruptured zone on the exterior surface of the end of theouter hood, and the restoration of this rupture can be easily detected.

If the breakable strap is solid, the closure can not be contaminatedwith a foreign matter, e.g. dust.

Making of the valve member as a ball of glass, crystal glass, or marbleprovides its tight abutment to the seat of the removable gate due to itsweight, which makes closing more reliable and makes refilling the bottlewith low-quality drinks less possible. During pouring, when the bottleis tilted, the glass ball rises over the seat easily and fast and makesit possible to accurately measure the poured liquid. Besides, a glassball is very hard and durable, and therefore contributes to reliableoperation of the removable gate as a whole.

The presence of the sealing gasket between the outer pipe and the innerpipe of the discharge sleeve provides enhanced tightness and goodcondition of the content of the stored bottle.

The longitudinal ribs on the interior surface of the outer pipe, whichare separated or arranged in groups to interact with the mating surfaceof the bottleneck collar, utterly prevent rotation of the closurerelative the bottleneck.

The proposed invention will now be explained by way of the non-limitingdescription of the preferred embodiments and with the reference to theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a view of the section of the closure;

FIG. 2 is a view of the section of the hood;

FIG. 3 is a view of the section of the discharge sleeve without theremovable gate.

The closure comprises a discharge sleeve 1 with an outer pipe 2 and aninner pipe 3, the outer pipe having longitudinal ribs 4 and a collar 5with an external thread 6, an inner hood 7 with splines 8 and a pouringtube 9, said inner hood being engaged to the collar 5 of the dischargesleeve 1 by means of a thread 10, a removable gate 11 including a seat12 and a check valve member 13, a sealing lip 14, a flange 15, an outerhood 16 with splines 17, transverse projections 18, a break-off member19, and breakable strips 20. There is a plug 21 inside the collar 5 ofthe discharge sleeve 1, which is supported by raking props 22 and usedto shut off the pouring tube 9, and there are windows 23 with inwardlybent projections 24 on the wall of the discharge sleeve 1 above thelongitudinal ribs 4, said windows being spaced evenly around theperiphery of the discharge sleeve.

The mating surfaces 25 of the pouring tube 9 and the plug 21 aretapered.

The closure can be equipped with a sealing gasket 26.

The proposed closure will be assembled and used as follows.

The inner hood 7 is screwed hard on the discharge sleeve 1, whichresults in the plug 21 closing tightly the bore of the pouring tube 9.Then the discharge sleeve containing the inner hood will be insertedfully into the outer hood 16, thereby the splines 17 of the outer hood16 engage the splines 8 of the inner hood 7, and the lower end of theouter hood 2 is restrained against the axial movement by means of thetransverse projections 18. Afterwards, the valve member 13 will beplaced into the removable gate 11, and the removable gate will beinserted into the discharge sleeve through the inlet end using someforce. The sealing gasket 26 will be installed onto the flange 15, ifnecessary. The assembled closure will be forced hard onto thebottleneck. After that, the inwardly bent projections 24, sealing lips14, located on the exterior surface of the removable gate 11, and thesplines 17 sit tight on the bottleneck, inside and outside. As a result,the bottle is sealed tightly.

To open the closure for the first time, the outer hood 16 will bescrewed counterclockwise, thereby breaking the strips 20 and releasingthe break-off member 19 due to the rise of the inner hood 7 relative tothe collar 5. As a result, the bore in the pouring tube 9 opens, and thecontents of the bottle can be discharged.

To close the bottle, the outer hood should be fully screwed clockwise.

1. A closure comprising: a discharge sleeve with outer and inner pipesat its inlet end, a collar with an external thread, raking props and aplug at its outlet end; an inner hood with splines on its side exteriorsurface and a pouring tube at its outlet end, said inner hood beingthreadedly engaged on the collar of the discharge sleeve thereby toallow its axial movement resulting from rotation, a removable gateinstalled on the exterior side surface of the inner pipe, said gatehaving sealing lips on its exterior surface and a flange on its outletend, said flange being located between the inner and the outer pipes, anouter hood having a tamper-indicating means at its outlet end, splineson its interior side surface thereby to engage splines on the innerhood, and transverse projections to interact with the inlet end of theouter pipe of the discharge sleeve, said outer pipe having longitudinalribs on its interior surface, said plug being supported by raking propsand used to shut off the pouring tube, the wall of the discharge sleevehas windows therein, said windows being spaced evenly around theperiphery of the wall of said discharge sleeve, and inwardly bentprojections located under the said windows, characterized in that themating surfaces of the pouring tube and the plug are tapered, thetamper-indicating means at the outlet end of the outer hood is made as abreak-away member fixed on the end surface by means of at least threebreak-away strips, which are spaced evenly around the periphery of theinterior surface of the end of the outer hood, or by means of a solidannular break-away strap located at the interior surface of the end ofthe outer hood, and the valve member is made of a material which ensuresits tight abutment to the seat of the removable gate.
 2. Closure asclaimed in claim 1, wherein the ball of the valve is made of e.g. glass,crystal glass, marble.
 3. Closure as claimed in claim 1, wherein asealing gasket is placed between the outer pipe and the inner pipe ofthe discharge sleeve.
 4. Closure as claimed in claim 1, wherein thelongitudinal ribs on the interior surface of the outer pipe areseparated or arranged in groups to interact with the mating surface ofthe bottleneck collar.